Alexander Kolchak

Alexander Kolchak (16 November 1874-7 February 1920) was the dictator of the Provisional All-Russian Government and commander of the White Army during the Russian Civil War. Formerly an Imperial Russian Navy admiral, Kolchak led opposition to Bolshevism and the Red Army, but he was captured and executed in 1920.

Biography
Alexander Kolchak was born on 16 November 1874 in Saint Petersburg to a family of minor nobles, and he served in the Imperial Russian Navy, rising to the rank of Admiral and taking part in polar expeditions. Kolchak served in the Russo-Japanese War as a destroyer commander, and he was wounded in the Siege of Port Arthur and captured by Japan. In August 1916, Kolchak took command of the Black Sea Fleet as a Vice-Admiral, replacing Andrei Eberhardt. He planned the invasion of the Bosphorus, sinking the Ottoman Empire's coal ships and harming their economy. In 1916, the Imperial Russian Army and navy cooperated to take Trebizond from Turkey, a victory for Russia. In June 1917, he was relieved from command of the Black Sea Fleet after the Russian Revolution, and he wanted to re-establish strict discipline and capital punishment in the army. In 1918, he returned to Russia at Vladivostok after being in exile in Japan and Manchuria, and the United Kingdom helped him in rising to power as dictator of the Provisional All-Russian Government in Siberia. Kolchak received token Allied support, with President Woodrow Wilson sending 7,000 US Army troops under William S. Graves to maintain the Siberian railroad, with the Americans remaining neutral and refusing to help the monarchists and autocrats loyal to Kolchak. In April 1919, the Bolsheviks launched a counterattack towards Ufa and the Urals, with Mikhail Tukhachevsky leading the push. Kolchak was captured and executed by firing squad by the Red Army after the Reds emerged victorious, weakening the Whites.